Saturday, July 9, 2016

Been a minute, don't forget it

Lately, I've been:


1) Watching Hannibal.
I had wanted to watch Hannibal for quite a while. It has a rapid cult following and we even talked about it in one of my RTF classes because the fact that it aired on NBC is honestly unbelievable. I also really enjoy the three movies that, chronologically, take place after the series (Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal).

Unfortunately, it wasn't available on any streaming service I subscribe too, nor were the episodes available on NBC's website. I assumed I would just have to wait or buy the seasons on a whim.

But then, lovely Amy came through! She has the seasons, uploaded them to Vudu (a service I had never heard of) and let me use her login information to watch them. As she put it, "What're internet friends for if not for sharing fantastic television?"

I haven't finished the series yet, but I'm about a third of the way through the third and final season. And let me tell you: this show is weird. It is definitely not for everyone. But I really enjoy it. I have no idea what's going on, most of the time, but that's refreshing in a way. The imagery is dark, disturbing and often grotesque -- but also beautiful, in the way showrunner Bryan Fuller has come to be known for things that are both strange and intriguing (see also: the superb Pushing Daisies). No one can touch Sir Anthony Hopkins, but Mads Mikkelson brings his own interesting take to the character the American Film Institute named the #1 villain of all time. And you can't help but empathize with Hugh Dancy's always-suffering Will Graham.

Also, Gillian Anderson is a recurring character. So, bonus.

Source: http://blindwhitesheep.tumblr.com/post/112543473968/nbchannibal-eat-up-hannibal-season-2-is-now

2) Obsessed with Everybody Wants Some!!
I've only seen four of Richard Linklater's 25 directing credits, but I still manage to be low-key obsessed with him -- probably because two of those films (Dazed and Confused and School of Rock) were formative to me becoming the person that I am. He also founded the Austin Film Society, which I think is super cool.

Anyway. As mentioned, I am a big fan of Dazed and Confused so when I heard Linklater was making a "spiritual sequel" to it ~100 years ago, I was beyond stoked. I followed it from stage one (they even had a casting call in Austin while I was in school!) and could not wait to finally see it when it hit theaters this spring.

Unfortunately, I did have to wait because non-blockbuster movies do not typically make their way to my town. Finally though, when I was in Austin in June, I went to (my beloved) Alamo Drafthouse to see it with some friends, hoping and praying it would be as great as I wanted it to be.

And it totally was. Like, I literally have not stopped talking about it and it's been a month. I watched it again the other day -- still love it. At the risk of spoiling any great lines/gushing for paragraphs on end, I'll just say: 1) if you like Dazed and Confused, you will like Everybody Wants Some!!, 2) if you've ever played on a sports team, you will probably love it and 3) Linklater is a master at recreating the time and feel of a specific place. The music, the clothes, the cars, the attitude. Everything about this movie screams 1980, exactly like it's supposed to. It's great.

Source: http://movieweb.com/everybody-wants-some-movie-trailer-2016/

3) Getting better at using Spotify.
I have complicated feelings about music streaming services. Less because I still think there's merit in physically owning music (I do, but it's a hard argument to make, even to myself, when digital really is so much more convenient), and more because I worry that all the pros of using streaming, like finding new artists and being able to listen to them so easily, will end up hurting the artists themselves in the long run. I'm sure artists get paid from Spotify, etc somehow, but there's no way it's less complicated than just straight buying their stuff. So, it skeeves me out a little bit because the music business is already so shady a lot of the time.

But still, I've started using Spotify more, with the idea that I'm using it to find stuff I wouldn't otherwise and that, if I really love something, I will go actually buy it. So far, I've been enjoying it. I love the Discover Weekly feature because the bots really are fantastic at finding me music I'll like that I would have never found. And I recently read this article about how you can get the most out of your weekly mixtapes, so I've been trying to better my practices to better my experience. It's pretty cool.


4) Watching and rewatching the "MILF$" video.
She's Fergie-Ferg and I'll love her long-time. 

I am unashamedly into this song and, more importantly, its video. Like most Fergie vids, it's filled with Fergie and her fellow ladies looking super sexy -- but what makes this video great is that all the ladies in it are sexy because they're mommas. Basically, I love that Fergie must've been like, "You know, I get the MILF thing. I'm super hot and I'm a mom. All the moms I know are super hot. Wait, literally all moms are super hot. Yes. Leggo." And then made a video about it.

Also, as I mentioned on Twitter, there's this part at the 1:50 mark, where she starts yell-singing instead of rapping and it reaffirms my need for Rockstar!Fergie, a la the way she was in this song.


5) Reading On Bowie.
As anyone who's ever spoke to me about what I'd like to do with my life -- or followed me on Twitter for more than five seconds -- knows, I love Rob Sheffield. Despite studying journalism for four years and wanting to pursue it for over a decade, I don't know a lot of journalists by name. But Sheffield is one that I've followed for literal years now and I love everything I've ever read by him. He's the bomb.

So, naturally, when I found out he had a new book coming out (his fourth), I was so amped to read it. It's about David Bowie (obviously) and, impressively, he wrote it and got it published since Bowie's death in January.

Bowie is one of those artists I've always respected in a detached awe sort of way -- I've never really listened to his music (besides the songs everyone knows), but he's always been there in the background of my life, like most other people on this planet (and, honestly, probably others). I've always wanted to know more about him because he seems like such a fascinating character -- or rather, series of characters. And he seems so important to the people that really love him. Learning about him through the words of someone I already respect seemed like the perfect scenario.

I'm only about a fourth of the way through the book so far, but I expect to speed through it because it's an easy, interesting read. I already recommend it.

Source: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062562722/on-bowie

6) Digging the good representation news we've gotten recently.
A lot of times, when it comes to the discussion of diversifying our media and the people who get to make our media, it can seem like we're treading water. But sometimes, there are some really good waves.

Like, for example, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' diverse new class, which includes mega-babes John Boyega and America Ferrera, among others. Or the fact that John Cho revealed Hikara Sulu will be casually, but explicitly, depicted as gay in the upcoming film, Star Trek Beyond. There's been some pushback there, namely from the Original Sulu, but I for one couldn't be happier to see a franchise already so well-known for boldly going going a little bit further.

Also, bonus real-world LGBTQ representation: Aubrey Plaza came out as queer this week.

Source: http://pandawhale.com/post/53318/aubrey-plaza-grumpy-cat-christmas-gif

7) Dealing with tragedies.
There's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. My heart hurts, but still I have hope.


Currently looking forward to: Ghostbusters (out July 15); Star Trek Beyond (out July 22); and, more distantly, Fantastic Beasts (obviously; out November 18) and Anna Kendrick's memoir, Scrappy Little Nobody (out November 15).


Have a good weekend everybody!

1 comment:

  1. I loved this post :)

    I must check out more Richard Linklater films.

    AH NO WAY I'm reading "Love Is A Mix Tape" right now. My knowledge of music has a long way to go, though. Rob Sheffield is great.

    ReplyDelete